The Dance
by Keira Aislin
Summary: Updated and restrung on 11-10. Very unusual story, starts out with G/H, ends out with G/D. Don't ask, I'm not sure how it happened. R/R
1. I Want You To Need Me

**__**

I Want You To Need Me

Disclaimer: I Want You To Need Me is copyright 1999 by Celine Dion, Diane Warren and Sony Entertainment. Harry Potter, characters, names and related indicia are trademarks of Warner Brothers, J.K. Rowling and Scholastic.

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A/N: Originally, these five chapters were three separate stories. One day I started looking at them, and realized they fit together, like pieces of a puzzle, so I started reading through them and glancing at different passages and realized that they were pieces of a puzzle, they fit together perfectly, and while the ending isn't exactly what I would normally write, it is very unique. If you've read, I Want You To Need Me, Victim of the Game and The Dance, refer to either chapter four or five, whichever one you haven't read yet, or if you like, read the whole thing over again. However, if you've already read the first three chapters in a different place, you might feel all right just going straight to chapter four or five and reading those. If you notice anything that contradicts, please let me know, and I'll edit it. Thanks for reading, and thanks for sticking with me.

Virginia Weasley walked down the lone corridor, her books held close to her chest and her bag slung at her side. She didn't have another class for the next hour, so she had no idea where exactly she was going. Her eyes were cast down towards the marble floor, her hair hanging haphazardly in her face. Every once in a while she would raise her brown eyes to make sure she was not about to run into anyone.

Deep down, she knew exactly where she was going. As she hit the corridor she was looking for, she quickly slipped into a shadow in the wall, beside a suit of armor. Fred and George had caught her torturing herself once and had teased her until she started crying. When the tears had come, Fred and George had stopped and realized how painful it really was for her to stand here. A door swung open a little farther down the corridor and Ginny automatically took a step back.

He was there, standing between Ron and Hermione as they left their charms class on their way to whichever place they went to now. Ginny had come across this opportunity by accident earlier in her fourth year. She had been on her way to the library during her free time and had gotten lost. When she found herself right outside the charms room, the so called "dream team" coming out of the classroom, she had slipped into a hiding place to make sure Ron wouldn't see her and make fun of her. But then she had seen him, and since then, she came back every once in a while just to look at him. They were in the sixth year now and she in her fifth. She watched Harry, not because she really wanted to anymore, but because she needed to. She needed to know he was safe.

She had once heard Ron mention something about Snape saying that he felt responsible for saving Harry's life once in third year because Harry's father had saved his life. Ginny had this same responsibility now that Harry had saved her life three years before. As Harry passed by and the corridor finally cleared out Ginny sunk to the floor and laid her head down on her knees.

__

I wanna be the face you see when you close your eyes  
I wanna be the touch you need every single night

Ginny knew about his dreams. She knew they were horrible and they very rarely had good endings. Just once, she wanted to be the thing he dreamt about. She knew that if she could enter his dreams she would keep him safe, fight off the demons that he seemed to be destined to deal with though out his whole life. She also knew it was more than that. She had spent her life hearing fairy tales about life, about how he saved the whole world just by surviving, and then, that very same boy, whom she had been taught to worship for saving everyone's life the first time, felt that her single insignificant existence was worth saving the second time around.

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I wanna be your fantasy  
And be your reality  
And everything between

Ginny stood up, brushed off her skirt and straightened her robes. She used the shiny suit of armor to wipe the smudges and tears off her face. Today was the last day she would come here, she promised herself. She would never torture herself like this again. Ginny trekked slowly down the hallway and almost let out a gasp of surprise when she saw the three of them standing alone in the adjoining hallway talking. She quickly hid around the corner. Likely they were planning a new adventure. All she wanted now was to be part of it. Suddenly she heard Ron's angry voice rise above both Hermione and Harry.

"Harry, you can't go alone. We won't let you!"

Harry said something that Ginny didn't hear. She edged closer, using the shadows as a cover so that she could hear what was going on. She heard Ron protest again.

"I'm sorry Ron, but this is something I have to do by myself," Harry said. "I can't keep putting the people I care about in danger just because I was stupid enough to piss off Voldemort."

"Harry," Hermione shuddered, "Please don't say that name aloud, you know it gives us the shivers."

"Cowards," Harry muttered. "You can't quake in fear every time I say that name. The more we fear him the more we give him power. The only reason he hasn't ever taken over Hogwarts is because we feel so safe here and everyone is so sure that he could never do it. Doesn't it make you the least bit uncomfortable to know that there are Death Eaters all over this school, that no one walking alone down these halls is safe!"

Ginny shivered, it wasn't something she had known, but all the same, she wasn't really afraid. She believed what Harry had said. The only thing that gave Tom Riddle power had been her fear of him.

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I want you to need me  
Like the air you breathe  
I want you to feel me  
In everything  
I want you to see me  
In your every dream

Hermione and Ron started arguing with Harry and the boy who lived seemed to be getting more and more adamant. Finally, Ron and Hermione stalked off, leaving Harry by himself. Harry shook his head and looked down. Ginny was the only one that saw the lone tear fall from his eye as they disappeared towards the Great Hall.

Harry turned around and started down a corridor Ginny did not recognize.

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Oh, God, she thought. _Where ever he's going, he's going there now._ Ginny thought twice about it before she followed him. She would never forgive herself if something happened to him. After all, wasn't it Harry himself who was just saying how no one was safe by themselves in these corridors.

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The way that I taste you, feel you, breathe you, need you  
I want you to need me, need me  
Like I need you  
I wanna be the eyes that look deep into your soul  
I wanna be the world to you I just want it all

Ginny tip toed behind him. She would follow him, but she dared not let him know she was there. All he would do is send her back and make her swear to tell no one. He would have denied it, but she could almost taste his fear, but he hid it from his friends for their own safety. She could feel him quake in anxiety, after all, if he couldn't defeat the man who had killed his parents, it was quite possible that no one could. She could breathe him in, look into his eyes and see all of his doubts, and only wish that would ever see his soul. He would never know how much she needed him every day of her life. And the only thing she really wanted was for once, for him to need her, the same way she needed him.

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I wanna be your deepest kiss  
The answer to your every wish  
And all you ever need  
I want you to need me  
Like the air you breathe  
I want you to feel me  
In everything  
I want you to see me  
In your every dream  
The way that I taste you, feel you, breathe you, need you  
I want you to need me, need me

That was when she saw the door that he was entering. He cast a simple unlocking spell and entered slowly. Ginny followed just before they door closed. That was when she saw the group of people standing at the far end of the room. Harry had known they would be here and yet he had just barged straight in. Then she noticed something else. They hadn't even realized that Harry and Ginny were there. Ginny hid herself as well as possible before anyone would notice that she was there at all. Harry did the same, still not realizing that Ginny was there at all. Then the group at the rear of the room broke apart and started to leave. Just as they reached the door, Ginny saw Harry cast a complicated locking charm on the door. The lead of the party tried the handle and stared at it in confusion. Before Ginny completely realized what she was doing, she cast a befuddling charm on him. He blinked his eyes quickly and then turned around and walked back to the corner to stare at the floor. The other four started scanning the room in suspicion. She saw Harry cast two more hexes. Stupefy and Expellimarus. One of the four was laid out in the floor, the other searching valiantly for his wand. Not finding it, he took the unconscious wizard's wand as the three remaining wizards backed up to form an outward-facing circle in the center of the room. Harry managed to cast another stupefy before he was spotted. The two remaining wizards went straight for him. Ginny pressed herself into her corner, trying not to close her eyes.

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'Coz I need you more than you could know  
And I need you to never never let me go  
And I need to be deep inside your heart

Harry cast a stupefy on one and Expellimarus on the other. The disarming spell was blocked, but one of the remaining two was knocked out cold. The man raised his wand to Harry and grinned. Harry would never have time to cast another spell.

"Crucio!" The man yelled. Ginny never knew why she did it, but she barreled out of the shadows and in front of Harry right then, taking the spell instead of him. She collapsed into the floor screaming.

"Ginny!" Harry yelled.

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I just want to be everywhere you are  
I wanna be the face you see when you close your eyes  
I wanna be the touch you need every single night  
I wanna be your fantasy  
And be your reality  
And everything between...

"Harry," Ginny breathed. Harry glared at the death eater. He raised his wand and threw it in the floor and went straight at the man with his bear hands. The man was knocked in the floor and Harry grabbed a hold of the man's wand at the first chance he got.

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I want you to need me  
Like the air you breathe  
I want you to feel me  
In everything

Ginny rolled over on the floor to watch Harry. He was beating the man senseless and didn't show any signs of stopping any time soon.

"Harry," Ginny pleaded.

Harry dropped his fists and threw the wand as soon as he heard Ginny's voice. The man slumped onto the floor, unconscious when Harry let go of him. Harry rushed over to Ginny.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Fine, but I hurt."

"I know," he said. "We'll take care of it. Ginny… you probably just saved my life. How can I thank you."

"You don't have to thank me, Harry. You saved my life, too."

Harry carefully picked Ginny up in his arms and walked out the door, placing the locking charm back on the door after he left. It was then that Dumbledore, Hermione and Ron rounded the corner.

"Five," Harry said. "Ginny helped me. I'm taking her to Pomphrey." No one bothered to stop Harry as he carried Ginny to the Hospital Wing.

"Wait," Ginny said, just before they entered. "I have to tell you, Harry." Ginny gasped as Harry stopped and leaned against the wall.

"What Ginny?"

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I want you to see me  
In your every dream  
'Coz baby I taste you, feel you, breathe you, need you

"I'm not going to reveal any secret, Harry." Ginny shut her eyes for a second.

"Ginny, you need to see Pomphrey, before this gets any worse." Ginny shook her head.

"I have to tell you first. Harry, I need you." Ginny shut her eyes again and waited for Harry to reply. She was expected him to laugh, to ignore her, or to rationalize with her, but she never expected what he actually said.

"Ginny, I never could tell you, just for fear of losing you to something, but I think I need you too."

Harry cradled Ginny in his arms as he entered the hospital wing to have her checked on. Nothing else was said, but nothing else was needed.

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I want you to need me, need me  
Like I need you


	2. Victim of the Game

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Victim of the Game

Disclaimer: Harry Potter, characters, names and related indicia are trademarks or Warner Brothers, J.K. Rowling and their respective publishers. Copyright 2000, all rights reserved. The lyrics to follow are copyright Garth Brooks and his respective Agents. No attempt has been made to redistribute for sale or publication. This story is simply that: a story. Some artistic liberties have been taken with characters and music, and for that, deepest apologies are presented. Please enjoy the story for what it is… a vague and all together inadequate attempt to bring to life something that may or may not be feasible in the future of the characters we all enjoy reading about. Many thanks and regards, Keira Aislin.

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* ~ *

Draco Malfoy threw the beautiful mahogany box against the wall and listened comfortingly for the smash it made against the wall. He took a deep breath and tried counting to ten. He only got to five before he picked up another piece of decoration off the dresser and threw it as well.

"She had no right!" he screamed.

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Well, it took a little time   
But I guess you finally learned   
That promises get broken   
And bridges do get burned 

He was thankful no one was home to see him in such a tantrum. His father, more than likely, was out celebrating. He had dismissed the house's servants, knowing he would not need them and not wanting them to be in the way of his impending tirade. The house elves… well they were still there, but he never considered that a problem. They always kept their mouths shut, and if they didn't, they'd punish themselves for it. And his mother… he picked up the glass music box and shattered it on the floor in front of him.

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You've been siftin' through the ashes   
Just tryin' to find a flame   
Holdin' on to nothin'   
You're a victim of the game

"Damn her!" He tore a picture off the wall and looked at it, still seething. "Why did she have to leave?" Draco never would have acknowledged the tears that were running down his face, not if his life depended on it. He never would have admitted to this tantrum, even if it would save his immortal soul. He had no feelings, and if the world never found out different, his life would be peaceful.

His mother had been the only light in his entire miserable life. He had come own, soon after leaving Hogwarts for the last time, only to find that she was dead. He hadn't even been pulled from school to go to her funeral, and for weeks now the feelings that he had feeling had been culminating until last night. Last night came the realization that today would have been her birthday. The birthday that Lucius had never celebrated and the day that brought back so many memories. In their house, the only birthday that had meant anything was the day that Draco had turned eleven and left for Hogwarts. To Narcissa, however, birthdays were special, and twice a year, on her birthday and on Draco's, they would sit in this room, her beautiful dressing room, and celebrate the passing of another horrible year.

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You were standin' way too close   
To see it all fall apart   
And there were things you couldn't hear   
'Cause you were listenin' with your heart

Now Draco was celebrating the day in another way. The room that had provided the only peace in his life now stood in almost complete shambles. He had already torn down the dressing screen; it was the first target. The antique chair that had stood in the corner had been his second. She had sat there when they had exchanged stories, he about his troubles at Hogwarts and she about the humorous happenings around the house. Of course, they weren't really humorous to anyone but them, but after a while they had learned to laugh at the things that happened at this house. This was the only room where joy had ever been wrought, and now it was the place that held the most pain.

Draco started pulling drawers out of her antique dresser. Her under things flew first across the room, then blouses and skirts. She didn't have a pair of muggle clothes in here. She had once told Draco how interesting she found them, and if she could she'd wear them just once to see if they felt as comfortable as they looked. That, however, was out the question. Even admitting such a longing to Lucius would have been sadistic. She would be punished, not like he punished normal people, for that would have been too good for her. Draco went to the closet and started pulling her beautiful robes down from the hangers. He shredded the first half and then took out his wand and incinerated the rest. Up until now the physical acts had been more satisfying, but suddenly, wand in hand, he started destroying with a new, darker, glory.

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But you can't say I didn't warn you   
Now there's no one else to blame   
There's no one quite as blind   
As a victim of the game 

She loved too much, that was apparent. Through all the years of endless torment and tears, the deaths the victories and the all too nostalgic defeat of Thomas Riddle, she had still loved Lucius. Her love for him was dark, however. It was the kind of love wrought from pain, gestated through jealousy and consummated by a hatred that would never make sense. It was the exact type of hatred that Draco felt now.

He was haunted, that was true. There was no other word for it. The dark circles under his eyes said it all. The reverse spells that had been put on his wand to show the spells he had cast on others had scared the courts. They were not unforgivable or illegal curses, but they were in fact horrid. Spells to overcome feelings, spells to forget other people. He could not count, not even he had tried, the number of times he had cast the obliviate charm on himself to make him forget the things he had felt or done for others.

Draco turned his wand towards the wallpaper that sung of bright colors and happiness and began shredding it. He hated himself, he hated everyone.

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And it don't matter who you are   
It treats everyone the same   
All you need's a heart   
To be a victim of the game

He still couldn't figure out why he didn't turn the wand on himself, make him forget Narcissa, make him forget he loved her, make him forget that she had ever existed as anything more than a mother in his life. He wanted to be in pain right now. Slow and grating pain. He didn't want to feel love, didn't want to feel vengeance, jealousy, defeat, hatred… but mostly love. All he wanted to feel was pain._   
  
You know it's really gettin' to you   
When you take to tellin' lies   
And you can try to fool your friends   
But you can't look 'em in the eye _

Draco turned his wand up to the lantern that brought light to the entire room and destroyed that as well. He then went to the loose board beside the vanity table and pulled it up. He started jerking out all her books, all her notes, and all her correspondence that she had shared with him so many years ago. She had written him at school. His father had never though it would be necessary. He figured that Draco would do all right on his own, but it was his mother's undying correspondences and letter, notes of encouragement that had really pulled Draco through. She knew everything about him, start to finish, good and bad, from the time he had first shown signs of being a true wizard to the few weeks before his graduation when she had sent him a sad letter telling him of the things that were going on… she knew everything about him, and loved him anyways. It wasn't something Draco could say about anyone else in the world. Even his owl avoided him. No one would ever realize that he had loved anyone, and they all would spend their entire lives hating him.

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There ain't no standin' tall   
In the shadow of the shame   
When everybody knows   
That you're a victim of the game 

Draco started to incinerate the letters and journals, but something stopped him. Beneath everything, on the bottom of the stack that had been thrown into the floor haphazardly, Draco saw a picture. It was small and very old, it actually looked very muggle in nature for there was hardly any movement at all. Then he did see the singular movement. It was a wedding picture. Lucius stood beside Narcissa, his grasp around her waist all too tight as if he was holding her back from running away, and a single tear trickled repeatedly down his mother's cheek. She had one hand over her stomach the other dropped deadly to her side. The last thing she looked was happy. The next picture he pulled out was of him and his mother standing together. This one was more recent. It had been taken over Christmas by one of the house elves. They had met here, in this room; to exchange Christmas presents away from Lucius. Christmas was another thing his father didn't understand, but that was no surprise. Draco sat on the floor, his hand laid protectively against his mothers knee, her hand was draped across his shoulders, her hand grasping the strong bone that was concealed beneath the flesh. She had been as afraid then as she had always been, and yet she found the happiness to smile, looking down to Draco every few seconds and realizing that if her life had been worth nothing, it was worth this one small boy, who love her. 

Still kneeling beside the open floor, Draco fingered the edge of the picture lightly and finally began to cry more freely. He dropped down onto the cold floor and leaned against he wall with his knees pulled up against his chest. Wrapping his arms around his knees, he brought the picture closer to him._   
  
And it don't matter who you are   
It treats everyone the same   
All you need's a heart   
To be a victim of the game _

"Mother," Draco murmured. "I'm sorry, I never told you. I loved you, even when I had no reason, even after my mind was poisoned against you, I loved you." Draco looked up towards the ceiling, hoping that maybe she heard him from wherever she was. His eyes began to level out until he saw the one thing in the room that was still standing. It was the full-length mirror on the back of the entry door. He stood and walked towards it, viewing himself in the mirror. His face was wet; his clothes in shambles, his robe cast on the floor in front of him. He was different. The face that had been untouched by feelings, was now flooded with them.

"I spent my entire life," he sobbed, "trying to avoid feeling like this, and yet you broke through anyways. How could you? How could you leave me, like this? Knowing it would change me forever, that I would never, again in my life, be able to look in the mirror and understand anything that mattered." Draco wiped his face, only managing to make it filthy from the dirt and wreckage on his hands. "You said it once. I saw it in you, and now I see it in me. That blind hate of our own humanity is what we mean when we use the word haunted."_  
  
Oh, you know, when I look into your eyes   
I can really feel the pain   
Starin' in the mirror   
At a victim of the game _

Draco walked slowly towards the door. He had meant to destroy the mirror, but he couldn't, just as he couldn't destroy the letters and books that now lay scattered. He exited slowly, fixing his clothes with his wand. He closed the door behind him and cast a locking charm so complex, that only he would ever be able to enter.

A house elf scurried past him, stopping when it saw the state that his master was in.

"Is you ok, young master?" the house elf asked anxiously.

Draco found himself forming a half smile before he could stop himself. "No," he replied. "I'm not okay." The house elf looked upset for a second. "Don't worry," Draco told him. "I'm not okay, but I will be. Excuse me, I need to say good-bye."

The house elf watched as the young master went down the steps and out the front door. He was terrified, he had never seen the young boy cry.


	3. The Dance

A/N: Ok, this is my first songfic. I'm hoping to do a series of these based off of my favorite country artist (OH PLEASE DON'T GIVE UP ON ME NOW! I'M ONLY USING HIS LYRICS), Garth Brooks. He sang a lot of songs that tell very honest stories and I thought that it would be fun to try to put some of his songs to stories.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the songs that Garth Brooks sang. This particular one was written by the extremely talented, Tony Arata, and performed by Garth Brooks. I also do not own Harry Potter or any of the characters involved. I like what Imogen said, so I'll quote him/her here. JKR's toys, I'm just playing with them for a little while.

~ * ~

Looking back on the memory of 

The dance we shared 'neath the stars alone 

Ginny sat peacefully at the side of the lake beside Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It had been a long time since she had allowed herself to remember those special moments that her and Harry had once shared there.

This was the first place where they had danced together, on the night of the ball in his fifth year. He had taken her in his arms and held her tightly to him. The stars had glistened brightly, providing them with the light to see only each other.

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For a moment all the world was right 

How could I have known that you'd ever say goodbye 

It would be the last time the world had ever been right again, Ginny mused. After that year, the torment and pain had begun, and would not finally end for another four years.

Lord Voldemort, better known to Ginny as Tom Riddle, came to his height at the end of Harry's fifth year when he and Ginny had finally found comfort in each other.

And now I'm glad I didn't know 

The way it all would end the way it all would go 

She was glad, very glad she hadn't known that in the end she would lose him. When she had finally graduated form Hogwarts, they had been in a rush to get married, to have as much happiness with each other as they could.

Harry had been so adamant about wanting to save her from the pain he knew they would have to endure in order to be together, but luckily, Ginny had convinced him that the pain would never be bad enough to keep her away, but if she had known...

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Our lives are better left to chance I could have missed the pain 

But I'd of had to miss the dance 

It was one dance, beneath the starlit sky that had made her entire period of pain worth it. She sifted her hand through the grass. They had once made love in this very spot, in the deep of the night when no one else had been awake.

A tear fell from Ginny's eye as she wrapped her arms round herself and laid back on the grass attempting to supress her sobs of agony.

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Holding you I held everything 

For a moment wasn't I a king 

Yes, when she had held him, she ruled everything, she had everything she had ever wanted, her one moment in time when no one else in the world mattered. Even Cho Chang couldn't have held up a candle to the beauty of Ginny having Harry in her arms just that once.

__

But if I'd only known how the king would fall 

Hey who's to say you know I might have chanced it all 

She wished at that very moment, that she had missed it. That instead of racing out of the hall when Harry had turned away from her, she had walked over to Colin and danced with him. Then everything would have been avoided. Harry would have danced with Cho, and she never would have had to endure the endless days, and lord the endless nights that had lately become regular.

__

And now I'm glad I didn't know 

The way it all would end the way it all would go 

Then she remembered something she had heard once as a child. Through the endless nights you will cry, but during the day I will be with you.

__

Our lives are better left to chance I could have missed the pain 

But I'd of had to miss the dance

Ginny looked in wonderment as the young boy, who was the mirror image of Harry woke from his nap beside her and rubbed his eyes. His dark brown hair went everywhere and he yawned. The scar, the same scar his father had recieved from his mother and he had recieved from his father, shone brightly on his forehead.

His father had died saving him, Ginny remembered and began to slowly cry again. The young boy reached his hand up and rubbed her tears away.

Yes, Ginny decided, yes... she was glad she hadn't known.

__

Yes my life is better left to chance 

I could have missed the pain but I'd of had to miss the dance

Never again, would she chance, but she was glad she hadn't missed the dance.

~ * ~

If you liked my story please review it, if you didn't like it for some reason, I won't be surprised, review it then too, I enjoy nice reviews, but I also like constructive criticism, just don't tell me I suck and I'll be happy.

Thanks for reading!

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JA


	4. Standing Outside the Fire

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Part Two: Standing Outside the Fire

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Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor the characters involved within. As Imogen once said… JKR's toys, I'm just playing with them. By the way… please read Imogen and Firebolt's stories, they are very VERY good. To continue, I do not own the song Standing Outside the Fire. Garth Brooks and Jenny Yates originally wrote it.

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Author's Note: Since I got good reviews for the first part of the story, I thought it would be interesting to do a connected one, about Ginny finding love again… in an unexpected place.

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Standing Outside the Fire

We call them cool   
Those hearts that have no scars to show 

Draco Malfoy wandered out onto the grounds of Hogwarts. It had been a very long time since he had last been here and he needed the time to familiarize himself with all of the changes that had probably been made.

He passed a group of fifth years and heard them giggling. He smirked and realized they were probably watching him, not knowing that he was there new defense against the dark arts teacher. Then he realized the full extent of that. He was doing Harry Potter's job.

Draco never let the feeling of triumph pass through him. Harry and he were enemies, but that did not mean that Draco did not feel his loss. The entire wizarding world felt his loss, especially the wife that he had left behind. The youngest Weasley was the one that Draco had never really met before. All he knew was she was the only girl of seven boys. Maybe it was the fact that he had never met her that made her so patient with him when her brothers were angry with him.

__

  
The ones that never do let go   
And risk the tables being turned 

There were other things that stuck out about Draco's time in Hogwarts. Now that he had started to reflect, he knew that the memories would not stop. All those times when he could have been Harry's friend, the person that offered a friendly hand instead of a nasty one. Draco settled himself beside the lake, pulling his knees up to his chest. He realized then that he probably did not look very much like a professor, but he didn't care.

Memories blasted through his pale face as he sunk deeper and deeper into ambivalence._  
  
We call them fools   
Who have to dance within the flame _

Draco looked across the lake to see a small figure sitting with a small boy. He may not have known her personally, but that did not mean he did not recognize her. It was Ginny Weasley. Harry Potter's widow, and another boy who had lived. The one that had been the true destruction of Voldemort. Everyone had seen the body now. A body that was locked in a glass case, barring him from ever leaving.

She was a fool, he realized. She was playing with fire, dating someone like Harry Potter, someone who the greatest part of the wizarding world, knew would probably die before he was twenty. They were wrong he died at twenty-one.

__

  
Who chance the sorrow and the shame   
That always comes with getting burned 

As he continued thinking, he realized that he did remember a good deal about Ginny. He remembered her trying out for Quidditch in her fourth year. He also remembered her not making it. She had tried again in sixth year and had barely made it, only to be put of the season permanently with an injury to her arm after the first match… the match with Slytherin to be precise. A bludger, purposely aimed in her direction had knocked her forty feet off of her broom. She was ashamed to have gone that far, and only played five minutes of the game.

It had gone on, Ginny always took chances, and almost always got burned. Draco knew, that he would never take a chance like that. Never._  
  
But you've got to be tough when consumed by desire   
'Cause it's not enough just to stand outside the fire _

And that was when he realized it. That was why his life was empty, because he never took the chance to love, turned it away at every moment it passed. That was why he never could make it._  
  
We call them strong   
Those who can face this world alone _

Ginny was strong, stronger than he would ever be. She walked through the world alone, raising a son who would not have a father to look up too. Harry had faced the world alone too. They weren't fools, he realized. They were the strongest people he ever knew.

__

  
Who seem to get by on their own   
Those who will never take the fall   


"Why were they all so damn perfect," he muttered. "They never knew the reason I hated them was because I could never be like them. I was destined for the dark mark from the day I was born."

__

  
We call them weak   
Who are unable to resist 

He could never have resisted his father. He was the weakling, not the awesome dream team that no one could ever beat. Even McGonagal liked them, and McGonagal hardly liked anyone. No one ever knew, that all Draco really wanted was for them to either love him or leave him alone.

__

  
The slightest chance love might exist   
And for that forsake it all 

But he'd never take the chance of loving someone, it was too risky. Look at Ginny, she was torn to pieces. If she had just resisted it, not loved him, not needed him so much, then she would never be facing this terrible pain. Draco fingered the dark mark on his arm. He would never go back to Voldemort, but that didn't mean that he didn't believe he would be secure there._  
  
They're so hell-bent on giving ,walking a wire   
Convinced it's not living if you stand outside the fire _

But they always gave, always; Draco mused as he stood up. He was halfway around the lake before he realized he was walking towards her.

He didn't know what he wanted to say, but he knew that he had to say it eventually. Ginny Weasley, charms teacher, with no more friends, and no one to love would except his offer of peace… if only he knew how to give it to her._  
  
Standing outside the fire   
Standing outside the fire _

No more than five feet away from her and her young son, Draco stopped. He wasn't sure he could do it. He was standing outside the fire, no chances, no leaps of faith and he would not be hurt, but he would also not live.

__

  
Life is not tried, it is merely survived   
If you're standing outside the fire 

He couldn't take the chance of never having done anything that he was happy about. With as much courage as he could possibly muster he put one foot in front of the other and started walking towards Ginny.

Without thinking he offered his hand to her. Stretching it out directly in front of her in an unspoken gesture of reconciliation._  
  
There's this love that is burning   
Deep in my soul   
Constantly yearning to get out of control   
Wanting to fly higher and higher _

Ginny looked up to see Draco standing right above her. She couldn't believe it. Why was he being so nice? She saw a small sparkle in his eye that had never been there before, but beneath the sparkle was also a deep fear. She knew inside what he was really asking her. He wasn't offering help as much as he was offering peace.

Ginny swallowed hard and reached up to take his hand. Draco pulled her up to her feet and they stood in silence for a few moments.

"Malfoy?" she asked softly.

"Please," he said, the hint of a waiting sneer on his lip. Instead, it turned into a smile. "Please," he repeated, "Call me Draco, Weasley."

"All right Draco," she said with a smile, "And it's Virginia, Ginny to my friends."

"Ginny it is then," he said making the most daring gesture in his life. Ginny smiled.

"Friends then."

__

  
I can't abide   
Standing outside the fire 

Draco and Ginny walked back towards the castle. As if by invisible prompt the young boy came up beside Draco and jerked on his robes.

"Up," he said simply. Apparently he couldn't keep up with them. Draco wasn't sure what to do. Ginny smiled and nudged him. Draco leaned down and picked the small Harry Potter up and placed him on his shoulders.

And they walked up to the castle, a new friendship and bond forming, between Draco, and the son of his worst enemy. Little Harry James Potter._  
  
Standing outside the fire   
Standing outside the fire   
Life is not tried, it is merely survived   
If you're standing outside the fire _


	5. A New Way to Fly

**__**

Part Two: A New Way to Fly

A/N: _Harry Potter, characters, names and related indicia are trademarks of Warner Bros. and J.K. Rowling, copyright 2000, 2001, 2002. The song, A New Way to Fly, is copyright Major Bob Music and Warner Chappel, was written by Garth Brooks and Kim Williams, and originally performed by Garth Brooks. No copyright infringement is intended and no money goods, or other profit is being gained from the reproduction herein._

I.E. Please do not sue me, all you will get is a car payment for a car that does not exist and a pair of used socks.

Further, note, which I do not usually indulge in. I laugh at people who try to correct the lyrics I put in my fics, especially when I cannot find the difference between their correction and my usage. The reason I laugh at this is that all of my lyrics are obtained from _www.planetgarth.com__, which is a web site that directly reprints the lyrics from the publisher of his music. With the exception of minor typos in words, which I usually correct, the lyrics should be completely accurate._

I do not laugh at flames. I print them out and use the paper to start my fireplace.

* ~ *

Like birds on a high line,   
they line up at nighttime at the bar.

"Tears in your beer," Draco thought. "Muggle bars do have their appeal, as often as I make fun of them."

Suddenly the man next to him crashed towards the floor. Two men came up from behind the bar and started dragging the man out of the room.

"On second thought," he said aloud.

"Need a new drink," the remaining bar tender asked.

Draco looked down at his empty vodka glass and nodded. "Make it a double."

The man raised an eyebrow. "Get kicked out?"

Draco smirked. "I understand," he said as the bar tender started to pour the drink. "I've been in these bars before. You see a poor idiot, crying into a glass of liquor, and immediately you want to talk and help him get his problems out, because it's a source of conversation over poker with the boys tomorrow morning. While I was kicked out, I feel it is none of your business and I don't want to be the source of your laughs later on."

The bar tender looked surprised. "If that's what's your worried about, son, I'll go ahead and tell you, I don't have any friends, and I don't gamble."

Draco finally laughed. "I bet you've heard the story a hundred times anyways. I was an idiot, we fought, I left… or rather, she told me to leave."

"You're right there, it's all upset lovers in here. Mostly the men, but I've had a fair share of women with the same problems… but every story is different."

__

  
They all once were lovebirds,   
now bluebirds are all that they are.

"Look at this, you must be more intelligent than I was giving you credit for," Draco sneered. "You have me talking about a subject I had absolutely no intentions of bringing up."

"Take it easy, son," the bar tender said quickly. "I was just trying to help."

"Well thank you, and no thank you, I don't need your help, and I'm not your son."

"Maybe it should be me, telling you the story."

"I know what bar tenders are like. They enjoy telling tales of how they were thrown out once too and they loved and lost, but they understand it now that it's too late."

"Actually, no, I'm very happy with my wife, my son and my life, for that matter."

"So what advice could you possibly give me."

__

  
They landed in hell,  
the minute they fell from love's sky,  
and now they hope in the wine,   
that they'll find, a new way to fly.

"I found my wife, after I went through hell. I always wanted love at first sight, you know the type of nonsense I'm talking about." The bar tender looked almost comically cliché as he picked up a glass and started wiping it out with the towel at his waist. "I trailed after that love for six years, never getting her to commit, never being able to let go. Finally, one night, she told me quite clearly that she wanted me to get out of her life, so I did and I was miserable. I met my wife on the same night, happily ever after all that rubbish."

"I can't compare my story to yours. Millie and I have been… had been going out for four years, ever since we left school. We have been going through the motions, pretending to be happy, but I couldn't marry her. I abhor marriage; it's what ruined my parents lives, and unfortunately, brought me into existence. She wanted more, and I don't blame her. I'm not known for my phenomenal temper control, and I lost it when she demanded that I either marry her or get out of her life. I did many things tonight that I'm not proud of, and if Millie were smart, she'd kill me for. I realize now that I can't marry someone that I don't love. I don't love her, I was just content with her, and so now, I suppose I'm looking for the love of my life and the strength to manage it."_  
  
A new way to fly,  
far away from goodbye,  
above the clouds and the rain,   
the memories and the pain,  
and the tears that they cry._

"So," the bartender said, picking up another glass and glancing at the clock on the wall, "You've never loved anyone?"

"Once," Draco said. "She was taken though. She loved the boy very much, and she married him and had a son. He died, and I was with Millie. We're very good friends, but I don't think she could love me. She knows me too well."

__

  
Now the lessons been learned.   
They've all crashed and burned,  
but they can leave it behind,  
if they could just find,  
a new way to fly.

"Sounds like a true friend," the bartender said. "Knows everything about you and likes you anyways."

"She is, but she's got enough trouble in her life without having to worry about my problems."_  
  
By the end of the night,   
they'll be high as a kite once again,   
and they don't seem to mind all the time   
or the money they spend._

"It sounds like you're not here because of Miss Millie. It sounds like you're here because you're already in love and you don't know how to deal with that."

"You're astute. Maybe me and Millie broke up because I just wanted the chance to really love someone. Maybe Ginny was it, and all we need is a chance. However, I've spent so much of my youth pretending to hate her, I don't think she would believe me if I told her I really loved her all this time."

"Love at first sight… really bites your ass doesn't it?"

"Yeah… it really does."

__

  
It's a high price to pay   
to just find a way to get by,   
but it's worth every dime,  
if they find, a new way to fly.

"I've already tried all the ordinary ways to get back on my feet. You know what I mean," Draco said, surprised that he was even talking to this man about such personal things. "I wandered fifth avenue, realized that was stupid, got sloshed, felt even stupider, now here I am, crying in my vodka and just wishing things could be different."

"They can be different," the man said, leaning against the bar. "But you have to have the strength to change them."

"Strength I have, courage is what I've always lacked.

"You have the heart, you have the strength, you _have_ the courage… you just have to put all three together and walk in like a blind bat."_  
  
A new way to fly,  
far away from goodbye,  
above the clouds and the rain,   
the memories and the pain,  
and the tears that they cry._

"You make it sound so easy," Draco said. "Courage is what I've never been able to have. Instead I got into fights, ran away from conflict, and let people control my life. I've never had courage."

"You do have it, son, it's in there somewhere. You just have to use it."

The door to the bar creaked open. The bar tender looked up.

"Sorry, miss, we close in ten minutes. If you're quick you can get a drink, though."

"I'm not drinking," she said. "I came for him."

Draco turned to see Ginny standing just inside the door.

__

  
Now the lessons been learned,   
they've all crashed and burned,   
but they can leave it behind,  
if they could just find,  
a new way to fly.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Draco asked as he pushed his vodka glass away from him.

"I think I'm the one who needs to ask that," Ginny said as she took the stool next to him.

"Watch the vomit," he sneered. "Where's James?"

"Thanks for the concern, he's at my mother's house. How do people like you when you're this nasty?"

"I'm not nasty, I'm defensive."

"Oh, good segway. Millie called me, crying."

"It's none of your concern, we broke up, I'm stupid."

"You're right, it's none of my concern, you did break up and you are stupid."

"You must be Ginny," the bar tender said, holding out a hand.

"He mentioned me? I'm flattered, even under at least three vodkas, he still remembers who his friends are." She shook the man's hand.

Draco glared at the bartender then turned to Ginny. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to drive you home."

"I don't have anywhere to go."

"You can sleep in my gutter. Come on."

"Funny, but I'm not sleeping in a gutter, I'll get a hotel room."

"You're not driving."

"Stop me," he said getting his trench from the stool on his other side.

Ginny shrugged then pulled back and punched him.

"Way to go, you managed to peg a drunk man."

"You try to drive, I'll call the police on you."

"Bitch," he muttered, "Fine, you drive."_  
  
They'll leave it behind,   
as soon as they find,  
a new way to fly._

Ginny waved a cheerful good-bye to the bartender who gave her thumbs up and smiled.

She helped Draco into the passenger seat, then slammed the door on his hand. Climbing in the driver's seat, she grabbed the wheel and pulled his keys out of his hand.

"You like hurting me, don't you?"

"No, but you deserve it."

She started the car.

"Ginny, don't go anywhere yet."

Ginny pulled the parking break back up and looked towards him.

"I'm sorry. I'm a jerk."

"We agree there, but I accept the apology."

"I don't want to be friends anymore."

Ginny frowned, trying to conceal the hurt. "I don't understand."

"I need to tell you something, and it's very hard for me to say."

"What did I do?"

"Nothing, you're absolutely perfect, but friendship isn't what I want from you."

"Draco, you're drunk, we can talk in the morning."

"Ginny, I love you."

"No you don't, you've got vodka in your system and you'll say anything."

"Have you ever heard me say that to anyone before? Even drunk?"

Ginny sat silently.

"I don't want friendship anymore, I want to try and see if maybe you can ever love me the way you loved Harry."

"I could never love you like that."

Draco turned away from her and looked down at her hands.

"What Harry and I had was a lot different than the type of thing other people have. We had the love based on a fairy tale. He rescued me, he was my savior. I don't think anyone could ever mean to me what he did."

Draco sighed softly. "I didn't think you could ever love me. I just decided it was better to get it out instead of wondering the rest of my life."

"I didn't say I didn't love you. I said I couldn't love you the way I loved him. Our love is not based on a fairy tale, it's based on reality, and I love you, Draco. Part of me always has in the way I love everyone, but after Harry died, you were there when no one else knew how to be. That's the part of me that loves you now."

Draco turned to her and reached out, taking her into his arms in seconds.

"Let's go home," she murmured against his chest. "You need to sleep this off, and I don't envy the head ache you'll have in the morning."

Draco smiled and kissed her softly. "Say it again."

"The headache part?"

"No, the 'I love you' part."

"I love you, Draco."

"And I will always love you, Ginny."


End file.
